


Mon Cœur S'ouvre à Ta Voix

by astronavigatrix



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexual Disaster Luka Couffaine, Bisexual Disaster Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Chloé Bourgeois Redemption, F/M, Lila gets Dragged, Luka Couffaine is best boy, Lukanette February 2020, Maybe Just A Little Bit Of Salt, Requited Unrequited Love, i stan Kagami and Marinette's friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-03
Updated: 2020-02-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:41:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22540405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/astronavigatrix/pseuds/astronavigatrix
Summary: Ah! Réponds—!réponds à ma tendresse,verse-moi, verse-moi l'ivresse!Sometimes, what you're listening to isn't your heart, and when it comes to Luka, Marinette discovers that listening a little closer goes a long way.AU drabbles, starting during 'Frozer'.
Relationships: Luka Couffaine/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 19
Kudos: 90





	1. 01- Mine

**Author's Note:**

> luka. deserves. better! and i'm gonna give it to him

  
  
  
For a few blessed moments, with Luka, Marinette _forgets_. She forgets about Adrien, she forgets about Kagami, she forgets that she came here with anyone but him as he catches her hands to keep her from falling onto the ice. Even Philippe's interruption doesn't manage it, the sight of Luka pulling her along, the soothing presence lulling her normally frenetic soul into a state of calm. She can feel her heart pick up speed as he turns her against his chest, not the rapid hummingbird-panic beat Adrien creates, but something more steady, sustainable.  
  
A perfect, alluring rhythm.  
  
Even when it picks up speed as she suddenly finds herself being lifted, the spike in her heartrate doesn't nearly match the adrenaline-charged reactions from Adrien, but…  
  
...but is that really a bad thing?  
  
Arms spreading involuntarily, she allows herself to enjoy the _safety_ she feels even aloft that far off the ice, trusting absolutely, irrevocably, that Luka will not let her fall if he can help it. Even the sudden drop of his hands from under her, unexpected as it is, doesn't prompt so much as a squeak of surprise until he spins her as she falls, making sure to curl his arms around her. Marinette's eyes blink open to Luka leaning over her, that same gentle smile he always seems to wear in place as he rights her effortlessly. A shiver that has nothing to do with the temperature sparks under her skin, traveling up her arm as Luka's gloved fingers slide across her arm, and the heat that blooms in her cheeks, in her chest, makes sure she's too warm to shiver from anything else. Despite knowing that all he's doing is providing guidance, that their success (thus far) is because of her ability to work with him, to understand, almost instinctively, that as long as she trusts him, everything will be _fine_.  
  
Everything _should_ be fine.  
  
But as her eyes catch Kagami and Adrien, catches her possessive tug of Adrien along behind her—  
  
 _'He already does_ ** _fencing with me_** _.'_  
  
—basically broadcasting mine, mine, mine _, mine_ , she realizes that everything isn't as fine as it could be. As it _should_ be.  
  
It's her own fault then, that her hand loses its grip on the only thing keeping her centered, and she finds herself grounded in a much more literal sense than she'd like, back, shoulder and knees throbbing as she sits herself up on the ice. For a split second she marvels at her own ineptitude, wondering at her ability to mess herself up so spectacularly at such regular intervals, when two voices ring out in concern. 'Are you alright, Marinette?' is spoken in stereo, in dual tones of concern and consideration, and she opens her eyes from her brief stint of self-flagellation to a sight that nearly stops her heart.   
  
Two hands reach out, offering her help, and her heart rises into her throat, throbbing and intrusive as she considers the two choices before her.  
  
Adrien's eyes alone make her heart pick up to dangerous speeds, the rapid pulse dizzying and disorienting as her fingers uncurl slowly, reaching toward him. Something inside her hesitates, eyes drifting toward Luka, and as her heart calms, soothed by the mere knowledge of his presence, Marinete blinks, so slowly it feels like a brief eternity, and takes his hand. He tugs her against his chest just as they're interrupted again by the instructor, but over his shoulder, she sees Kagami's startled (then rapidly, softening) stare. The other girl lifts her chin, and draws closer to tug Adrien away as Philippe is dismissed by the Mayor, and Luka tugs Marinette back onto the ice after the other duo, smiling down at her with that quiet fondness that makes her feel as if she's floating. Marinette feels herself smile back, and the faint color she sees rising on Luka's cheeks makes her own redden in return.   
  
She should have known even that happiness would be brief.  
  
As she's about to suggest that they leave Kagami and Adrien alone since the other girl seems to have things well in hand, she slips again, and this time isn't lucky enough to avoid an injury, however small. Still she has to leave the ice to bandage her bleeding palm, and as she hears Adrien excuse himself to follow, moves that much faster into the ladies' room to avoid him. Even though she knows her compass is beginning to turn in another direction, she doesn't want a reason to make it waver. Not when she knows she'll only be disappointed once again. So when the ice strikes, she's almost glad for the opportunity to slip away, even with the Akuma they have to deal with. She's less glad when she hears Luka trying to draw the Akuma away from her location, and she scoops him out of the way before Frozer can think to do much else but get just a bit more annoyed.   
  
From there, the Akuma (and Chat's attitude the entire time) are frustrating beyond what she'd wanted to deal with that day on top of everything else. Marinette doesn't blame the victim of Akumatization; at this point it's a fact of life for most of those living in Paris. But she _can_ blame her so-called partner for acting like a spoiled kitten who won't get his way. Even if her compass has changed directions, Marinette doesn't think it could _ever_ turn Chat Noir's way.  
  
At the very least, she can be glad when he seems to change his mind, and though she's still not _entirely_ happy with him, she doesn't express as much, choosing to simply be grateful for his help. When they finally finishes up, she returns to the rink, slipping out of the ladies' room and into Luka's arms as he fusses over her. Marinette smiles, assures him she's fine, she goes to school with Chloé Bourgeois after all, so Akumatization isn't something she's unfamiliar with, and watches Adrien do his level best to cheer up Philippe to keep the man from going down that dark path again. Luka settles beside her, smile still gentle, still warm, and the last of the chill left in Frozer's wake evaporates under it like frost under sunlight.  
  
"Your guy's really something else, Marinette," Luka hums, turning that gentle, thoughtful gaze on Adrien, and Marinette follows, swallowing hard before shaking her head slightly. Adrien isn't hers, and if she's honest, she doesn't think he ever really could be. Especially not now, when the soothing refrain of Luka's presence has cleared her head and let her think clearly for once. Her fingers curl against Luka's bicep then, drawing his eyes back to her, and she peers up at him from under the dark fan of her lashes, mouth curving into a small, affectionate smile.  
  
"Yeah," she agrees, watching his eyes widen and the pink in his cheeks from her proximity become rose, "he really is."  
  
And maybe she can't call Luka _'mine'_ just yet, but for once, she doesn't doubt the fact that she eventually _could_. 


	2. 02- Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luka is steady, consistent, like a metronome. Marinette thinks she's lucky to have him around.

  
  
She's been working on it for what feels like an _eternity_.  
  
Days and nights spent sewing and gluing and sewing some more, and now staring at the finished product, a sense of dread overtakes her, unwelcome and unexpected. Inhaling sharply, the familiar plucking of strings behind her stops her from beginning to spout her nerves to Tikki aloud, and she spins in her chair so fast she almost falls out of it. Luka's amused laugh draws her eyes to the trapdoor, where he pulls his fingers from the frets only long enough to wave. Marinette waves back nervously, hoping Tikki had noticed him before she had and thought to hide, and Luka climbs the rest of the way up, settling at the top of the stairs and lounging there as he plucks a sanguine melody into the air between them. It brings a smile to her face along with his own, and she sets the hat aside (for the moment) and lets the notes wash over her, filling her with a new optimism about her creation. When she finally opens her eyes again, it's to Luka beaming at her, and she's certain he's pleased to have kept her from going frantic with overthinking.  
  
"A little bird told me you had something important going on today," he explains without her even having to ask, plucking out another couple of casual notes, "so I thought maybe you could use a little… moral support." He doesn't tell her that ever since he'd returned from the rink with her, Juleka had seen fit to keep him abreast of Marinette's goings-on without his even asking. As if she wanted to keep that smile on his face for as long as she could.  
  
(She did, but if asked under duress, she'd just say it was so he'd owe her later.)  
  
"Luka," Marinette says, slow and sweet and disbelieving, as if she can't quite fathom the thought that he'd want to show up for this, "you don't have to do that…"  
  
"I know," he concedes, and glances at her from the corner of his eye, watching the way she freezes under the scrutiny in the midst of walking her project to its box, like she's been spotted by a predator, "but I _want_ to. If you want me to," he adds, not wanting her to feel pressured, or like she can't simply tell him to go home. He doubts Marinette would think any such thing, but it can't hurt to _be sure_.  
  
"I do-!" The words burst from her mouth with speed that surprises the both of them, though Luka's surprise morphs immediately into muted, subtle pleasure. "I mean… I could really use someone to keep me out of my own head," she continues, elaborating slowly, as if even admitting that much is a fault. A frown flits across his expression, intransient and brief, and then he's right back to the same old Luka, picking himself up with an unfair amount (in Marinette's utterly unbiased opinion) of easy grace to meander toward her.  
  
He continues strumming his guitar the whole time.  
  
"You know it's alright to ask for a shoulder to lean on, right Ma-ma-marinette?" He asks, playful but gentle, always gentle (because she's not entirely sure Luka knows how to be anything _but_ ) and brushes his shoulder against hers as he leans down to peer at her creation. "I've got two perfectly good ones you're welcome to any time."  
  
" _Any_ time?" She says, skeptical if only to keep from being overwhelmed by the ease with which he offers, the lack of hesitation despite the fact that that's all _she_ ever seems to do when it comes to him.  
  
Luka lets out a laugh that's barely more than a breath, seemingly understanding, and stops playing to place a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Any time," he reassures, and Marinette finally smiles, really smiles in return, turning to pick up her hat and place it in its box where it belongs.  
  
"Alright," she says, pretending at loftiness as she finishes, flashing him her own somewhat teasing look in her periphery, "but you can't complain when I call you at like two a.m. because I'm freaking out about a test or something."  
  
Luka lets out another one of those breathy not-laughs, and brushes the backs of his fingers along her cheek as he straightens, looking down and offering her a hand.  
  
"I don't say 'any time' lightly, Marinette."  
  
And if her heart stutters just a little bit at the softness of his eyes or the way the idle little cant of his head makes his hair slide across his cheeks, Marinette can't find it in her to complain. Not when she realizes she's taken his hand, and he's tugging her up to lead her out to present her design for the fashion show, guitar somehow slung over his shoulder in the brief span of her emotional bluescreen.  
  
"Come on, we don't want you to be late, right?"  
  
"Right!" Marinette gasps, and lets him lead her down to where his bike is waiting, glad that for once, she won't have to worry about ruining something by not arriving on time.  
  
  


* * *

  
  
For a second, she thinks about taking the Bee Miraculous. But _only_ for a second.  
  
Then she realizes she has no clue if Style Queen is even solid enough to land the hit they need in order to immobilize her. But if not the Bee, then which? She doesn't have the time—!  
  
And just like that, the answer hits her, and she snatches up the Snake miraculous with a triumphant smile.  
  
When she presents it to him, Luka doesn't hesitate. In his eyes, the way Style Queen treated not only Marinette and her friends but basically everyone around her is intolerable. The kind of cruelty that only begets more cruelty, and when he says it, Marinette tries hard not to think about Chloé and the fact that _this_ is what the other girl has to deal with having as a parent. But as they approach the Eiffel Tower and as they pass the frozen Chloé to get to Style Queen, Marinette can't help but feel just _a little_ bad for her previously sworn nemesis. Luka follows her line of sight, and his expression goes briefly, startlingly cold before he turns his attention back to Style Queen as Ladybug prepares her Lucky Charm.  
  
She barely gets a chance to use it (and really, she wasn't sure the glue-covered flag was going to do much but _annoy_ the glitterati she was facing off against) before Plagg appears—  
  
—and she finds herself at the beginning, with Viperion hissing a warning in her ear as he tries to distract Style Queen before the tiny deity makes his appearance. When he does, Ladybug is prepared, grabbing Plagg around the middle with both hands as he tries to make contact with the metal of the tower. Instead Marinette aims him toward the dome, praying that Tikki's power of Creation will counter Plagg's destruction, only to wince as Style Queen slams into her before she can reach the rose—  
  
She isn't sure how many tries it takes, only that by the time they get it right by coiling the flag around Style Queen and tossing her over the side, causing her to reform with various patches of herself missing, but too late to stop Plagg from doing the damage they need, she can tell Luka is getting weary. When the damage is fixed and the coast is clear, she retrieves the Miraculous from a grateful but worried-looking Luka, and she realizes he's worried about _her_. Before she can return to herself, however, she has one more thing she needs to do as Ladybug and not Marinette. Chloé isn't too far off from her mother, but the sight of Ladybug has her running over, delighted, though Marinette is certain what she's about to say won't be easy to hear.  
  
"I wanted to say I'm sorry," she begins, folding her hands in front of her and shaking her head. "I should have gotten you to safety rather than let your mother… do that to you." It isn't entirely her own fault, and she knows Chloé's self-centered survival instincts played a large part in her being there to begin with, but she's a _hero_. She's supposed to _save_ people. "But… Chloé, as much as I'm sure you admire your mother, I hope you realize she isn't the best example to follow."  
  
"What? Ladybug do you know who my mother _is_? Not wanting to be like her is ridiculous! _Utterly_ ridicul—!"  
  
"That's not… I don't mean you can't admire her successes. Her career. But Chloé, even you must see that the way she treats other people, even her _family_ isn't right. The way she treats _you_ isn't right. And I think… I think you know that in trying to emulate her, hoping that she'll come to see you as an extension of her and therefore someone worth her time, what _you're_ doing isn't right _either_. You deserve to have her think you're worth her time whether you're like her or not." She smiles gently here, trying for levity as she says, softly, "preferably 'or not', if I'm honest."  
  
Chloé is silent for a long moment, broken only by the beeping of Ladybug's Miraculous as the two girls stare at each other. Ladybug puts a hand to her earrings, but knows she can't spare anything else for the other girl. Not now, at least.  
  
"I've got to go but… just think about it, okay?"  
  
Without a look back, she casts her yo-yo upward, finding a place to detransform and stumble back toward the sound of Luka's seeking voice. When she finds him, he tugs her against his chest without a second thought, cheek pressed to her head in a way that makes Marinette feel as if the stress of the Akuma attack had never existed at all. The Miraculous box she has to return to Master Fu weighs heavily on her conscience as Luka leads her back toward the fashion show, guilt at the secret she knows that he doesn't gnawing at her.  
  
"—second chance!"  
  
Marinette's head shoots up at the words, eyes comically wide as she stares at Luka, and stutters out a faltering and flustered:  
  
"Wh-wh- _whaaaat_ —!?"  
  
Luka's smile at her is a little different than usual, and his breathy laugh just a little louder.  
  
"I said 'let's go give this fashion show a second chance!', right Marinette?"  
  
She manages to bring up a smile, nodding as relief floods her, and leans into his side as she lets him lead her back to their seats. Luka's fingers tighten for a moment on the fabric at her side, and lets the last slight bit of tension leave his own body.  
  
He was sure Marinette would come around to being honest in time.

**Author's Note:**

> look we all know lukanette isn't endgame but in this house we'll cherish the heck out of it until they get split up-


End file.
